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View all search resultsAnalysis: Government going after ‘unpatriotic’ critics, by almost any means
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Journalists hold banners during a protest to commemorate World Press Freedom Day in Surabaya, East Java on May 2, 2025. The protest, organized by the Surabaya chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Surabaya) and other civic groups, condemned intimidation and violent acts against journalists. (Antara/Didik Suhartono)
T
hree government critics have been reported to the police for something they said in public while an online magazine has seen the circulation of an Instagram article restricted, further evidence of Indonesia’s shrinking civic space. These incidents happened not long after the March 12 acid attack against a human rights activist, an attack which the military and police have blamed on members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) intelligence agency.
The Military Police have yet to disclose the identity of the perpetrators or the motive for the acid attack against Andrie Yunus of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), more than one month after the attack. The Military Police took over the investigation from the police’s hands the moment the latter found links to the TNI.
The public remains in the dark about the incident other than that four members of the TNI’s Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) are under investigation, and that BAIS chief Lt. Gen. Yudi Abrimantyo resigned because of the attack but without disclosing his own role.
Civil society organizations are pressing for an independent investigation to be credible and for the perpetrators to be tried in a civilian court rather than a military tribunal.
Magdalene.co, an online feminist magazine, fell prey to official censorship when its Instagram article reporting on an independent investigation into Andrie’s attack was blocked to Indonesian users. The investigation, by a group of civil society organizations and also published in other news outlets, indicate a larger and sinister operation by the military, certainly involving more than the four alleged perpetrators.
The Communications and Digital Ministry restored the content after public protests, but not before stating that Magdalene is not a verified new media and therefore did not enjoy the protection accorded news media outlets and journalists under the 1999 Press Law.
The ministry invoked a degree issued in March by Minister Meutia Hafid, who is a former journalist, that allowed members of the public to call on the government to request social media platforms take down content that incited public unrest, within four hours of notification. Platforms risk losing their operating license if they fail to comply.
